Polimoda presents the 2021 Final Graduation Show titled Art Thou. During the early days of summer, our top talents will set the mood with a live fashion show in Piazza Santa Maria Novella.
Polimoda opens the 100th edition of Pitti Uomo with the first-ever fashion show presented in one of the most famous squares in Florence. On June 29th, the historical Piazza Santa Maria Novella will transform into a runway show for an evening of elegance, magic and beauty. An orchestra will perform for the occasion and a secret garden of flowers, plants and trees, highlighting a Rob Mulholland sculpture installation, will be on display in the center of the square.
Following the show, Polimoda will offer the installation to the city for the duration of Pitti Uomo, allowing Florentines and visitors from all over the world to enjoy the sculptor and environmental artist’s work. His practice explores the complex relationship between humans and the natural world. Utilizing a wide variety of forms and materials, his sculpture installations interact with their surroundings. He incorporates mirrored surfaces in his sculptures to reflect the given environment and alter the viewer’s perception of the space. The reflection is purposely distorted, inviting the observer to question their individual relationship with their surroundings.
For the first time in Polimoda’s 35-year history, top talents from all of the design area programs—not only fashion design graduates—will participate in the final graduation show. “Discovering and promoting talent and diversity has always been our aspiration. It’s about amplifying inclusivity and diversity. Art Thou (be yourself) summarizes all of this. With the creations of our best talents, we want to respect and encourage individuality. The claim of the ego to show itself for what it is. A post-modern reflection about the authenticity of the one. The choice of the self to determine its autonomy of judgment and its very personal freedom of expression.
Following a series of revisions and evaluations with Director Massimiliano Giornetti and the fashion design department, Italian designers Allegra Aglietti, Lucrezia Bargellini, Chiara Cafissi, Camilla Conti, Marina Coppola, Maria Vittoria Del Rosso, Domenico Orefice, Alessia Dovero, Martina Giammillari, Annagiulia Giannetti, Lorenzo Guarnieri, Ugo Federico Ianaro and Pietro Moretti were selected for the final show as well as international students Valerie Armas Plasencia from Venezuela, Machalen Rebollo Prieto from Spain, Bokyung Jo from South Korea, Oluwafieyitimi Chukwueneka Majekodunmi from the United Kingdom, Paulo Guilherme Mileu Soares from Portugal, William Morgan from Canada, Glenn Charles Murphy from Ireland, Yuliia Rudenko from Ukraine, Daria Shkundina from Russia, Claire Tilroe from Austria, Yu Ning Hung from Taiwan and Yun Xie, Yulian Zhong and Jianqing Zhao are from China. Tommaso Bertini from Italy and Pari Shah from India created accessories for some of the collections.
“This is my first show as Director of Polimoda,” says Massimiliano Giornetti. “However, I have been working with our students for two years now. I’ve had the honor of witnessing their fierce creative energy as well as their moments of fragility during this uncertain time. The personal and professional road they’ve been on has led to great maturity, and although the past few years have been tough, they are ready to take flight with their own creative identity and uniqueness of thought.”
Polimoda has invited some of the most fascinating personalities in fashion and entertainment to vote for the best collection of 2021. This year, the jury will be composed of: Massimo Cantini Parrini, Oscar-nominated Costume Designer; Marco De Vincenzo, Fashion Designer and Founder of his eponymous label and Master in Collection Design mentor; Barbara Digiglio, Managing Editor, Global Luxury & Fashion Brands Digital Hearst Italy; Yu Masui, Fashion Journalist; MYDRAMA, musical artist who recently participated in X Factor and Massimiliano Giornetti, Director of Polimoda.
But Art Thou isn’t just a catwalk, it is a celebration of individuality and diversity. “Each of us is a universe, different from the others,” explains Giornetti. “An identity of equally different shapes and colors. True equality is the natural affirmation of the self and Polimoda is a plural (poli) identity. Being different is the greatest risk of contemporaneity.”
